Police change policy about reporting attacks on juveniles

The Peoria Police Department will begin releasing reports on crimes involving juveniles, changing a longtime policy that came under fire after attacks on teenage girls went unreported for weeks.

Erinn Deshinsky

The Peoria Police Department will begin releasing reports on crimes involving juveniles, changing a longtime policy that came under fire after attacks on teenage girls went unreported for weeks.

"It’s not something that has been done in the past," Police Chief Steve Settingsgaard said Thursday. "It should be done."

The police reports will released, but juveniles’ identities will be removed. Previously, Settingsgaard said, information on juvenile crime would be released if requested. But if reporters did not know about a crime and, therefore, made no request for a report, the crime went unreported to the public.

That scenario occurred again this week, when a relative of a teenager called the Journal Star to ask why an attack on the girl had not been published. A report on that March 19 attack near Peoria High School -- along with one on another teenage girl attacked in that area the same day -- had not been released to the public.

"Kids are out and about outside -- oblivious," Peorian Angela Palmer said Wednesday about the attacks, which included her niece. "I expect (police) to at least notify the public, if nothing else."

Both victims escaped without physical harm.

Last week’s attacks came on the heels of similar complaints that at least five related rape cases involving teen girls had gone unreported last year and in 2006. Monterius Hinkle of Peoria was arrested for allegedly committing those assaults, which were never reported to the public until victims’ mothers called the Journal Star.

Peoria police spokeswoman Ann Ruggles said reports in those cases were not made public because of department policy based on the Juvenile Court Act, which bars disclosing the identity of any minor involved in an investigation. The department had used that policy since 2000 to withhold entire police reports whenever minors were involved.

That former policy, according to an official with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, is a violation of the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

"It should not be a blanket withholding merely because a juvenile is in the police report," Terry Mutchler, public access counselor for the state attorney general, said Thursday.

Police reports are public record and, therefore, open, though the Juvenile Court Act would put provisions on what information the public is allowed to see, Mutchler said.

"It’s a misunderstanding," she said. "People, in error, presume everything related to a juvenile is off limits."

Settingsgaard said after the attacks allegedly involving Hinkle, he met with his staff and set up a policy to alert the media when a sexual assault involving a school-age victim occurred. That policy change was not publicly disclosed.

Because last week’s victims were not sexually assaulted, Settingsgaard said it didn’t fit the criteria and "kind of got looked over on that angle."

"We met again (Thursday) morning," Settingsgaard said. Now, "when we have something with school-age kids, with some threat of a sexual attack, we’ll let (the media) know" through the police report and a news release.

To Palmer, keeping that type of information from the public should always be unacceptable.

"There are some sick guys running around who’ve pretty much found a good spot" to attack girls, she said Wednesday. "I want people to be aware this is going on."

About 7:30 a.m. March 19, Palmer’s 16-year-old niece was walking along Ellis Street near Interstate 74 -- just blocks from Peoria High -- when she was attacked by a man. Palmer said the attacker grabbed the girl from behind and tried to kiss her, but she escaped and ran away. Though she told school officials, the incident was not relayed to Peoria police until later in the week.

Another attack had occurred about 15 minutes earlier, when a 15-year-old girl was approached and grabbed in the same area on Ellis. She, too, escaped before the man could kiss her.

The victims both said their attacker was black, but other details were varied, police said. Whether the attacks are related remains under investigation.

The mother of one of Hinkle’s alleged victims was furious Wednesday when she found out police and school officials had again failed to alert the public about attacks on children.

"Something needs to be done, whether it’s more police patrols or something," she said. "They’re our kids. We need to protect them."

A School District 150 official said the district does not alert the media on police matters.

"Once it becomes a situation where the police are completing a police report, it becomes a police issue," Associate Superintendent Cindy Fischer said. "A letter was sent home (Wednesday), and the parents were notified of the situation."

Erinn Deshinsky can be reached at 686-3112 or edeshinsky@pjstar.com. Leslie Fark and Terry Bibo contributed to this story.

Open policy

After recent attacks on Peoria teenage girls went unreported for a week, questions again arose about the Peoria Police Department’s policy to withhold all reports involving juveniles. Police Chief Steven Settingsgaard said Thursday that policy will be changed.

Here are some comments on the previous policy:

"There are lots of kids walking around here totally unaware (of the recent attacks). I expect (police) to at least notify the public."

-- Angela Palmer, aunt of one of the students attacked March 19

"The minute this happens, they need to have a news flash on all the stations. I’m (angry). Enough is enough."

-- Mother of a 16-year-old girl assaulted last year

"They should print (the police reports) for the safety of everyone else so they’d be aware. You don’t want children playing outside when there’s somebody like that out there."

-- Mother of a 13-year-old assaulted last August

The police reports should be released "to protect anyone else, so they are more watchful. So parents may take extra precautions, like taking their child to school or making sure they walk with a friend. So that the whole community rallies to make sure their neighborhoods are safe. So that neighbors keep a watch out."

-- Martha Herm, executive director of The Center for Prevention of Abuse

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